This invention relates to methods and apparatus for the continuous manufacture of food products, and in particular, for the manufacture of the now popular product known generally as tortilla chips.
A tortilla is a baked grain product which originated in Mexico and is now widely used throughout the world. The word "tortilla" as used herein is a product which may be disk shaped or square or otherwise, and typically is in the order of four inches to eight inches wide.
Tortilla chips in the form of pieces of tortillas are also widely sold and consumed today. The tortilla chip was originally made from the whole tortilla which was baked one day and fried the next day, typically not less than 4 to 8 hours and normally about 24 hours after baking. In the original process, the tortilla chips were produced by hand cutting the whole baked tortilla, and frying the hand cut chip shapes in batches. Sometimes the baked tortillas are refrigerated and sometimes they are stored at room temperature during the interval between baking and frying.
Unused baked tortillas spoil rapidly, dry out and are not desirable for consumption as a bread a day or two after baking when they are no longer a fresh, soft product. An initial reason for producing chips was to salvage the rapidly deteriorating baked tortilla.
The tortilla chip is similar to the potato chip and is intended to be finger food. The chips typically are wedge shaped or strip shaped with a maximum dimension of less than about 3 inches. The phrase "tortilla chip" is intended to cover these various shapes and sizes.
The product produced by the this method with the baked tortillas being stored in bulk for about a day prior to cutting and frying, is known as the old fashioned, home style or authentic tortilla chip.
As the demand for tortilla chips grew, methods and apparatus for automatically producing tortilla chips in high volume have been developed. In the conventional automated system, a dough is produced by cooking whole corn and grinding it wet into a dough or using instant corn masa flour mixed with water into a dough, and the dough is rolled into a sheet. This dough is sometimes referred to as "masa". The sheeted dough is cut into the desired chip shape, and the chips are baked to form baked chip shapes. The baked shapes may be conveyed immediately to a continuous fryer or they may be conveyed for varying time periods and in ambient air or humidity controlled environments prior to frying to obtain the desired tortilla chip. The added time and conditioning of the baked shapes prior to frying achieves a uniform moisture content throughout the shape, the skin of which has been baked and dried during the baking. This conditioning affects the texture, crispiness, oil content and flavor of the tortilla chip. This automated process was a deviation from the original old fashioned or home style process of baking the whole tortilla.
The old fashioned chip made from tortillas cut and fried has distinct taste and texture characteristics which differentiate it from the later automated process, and the old fashioned chip is considered by many to be noticeably different and better than the chip made by the automated process and usually commands a premium price. At the same time, in the automated process the chips are produced at considerably higher volume and lower cost.